Health and Safety Basics

Accidents may happen anytime. It just happens when all of us are unprepared  and busy doing things. It can be anywhere at anytime.

I, as a person, have witnessed some accidents that should have been prevented. Kakalungkot lang at di naiwasan.

1) Electric Shock ng Isang Pintor Habang nasa Hagdan:

Isang araw sa trabaho, para maabot ang pinipinturahan ng aming isang pintor, hinawakan nya ang threaded bar kung saan nakasabit ang fluroresent lamp. Ang hindi nya alam, grounded ito. Mula sa ilaw ay dumaloy ang kuryente sa threaded bar na kinapitan nya at sya ay nakuryente't nahulog pa sa hagdanan.

Cause of Accident:      Walang suporta o tagahawak ng hagdan kahit mataas ang pinipinturahan nya
                                       Exposed / Uninsulated wiring na nagcause ng grounding
                                       Walang PPE like safety helmet at gloves

     Consequence       :    Dahil sa pagkahulog, naospital sya nang tatlong linggo.


2) Heat Stroke ng Isang Driver - Isa sa mga napasukan kong projects ay supply and installation ng mga runways sa airport. Ang aming masipag na driver noon ay hatid sundo ng mga materyales sa gitna ng init ng araw. Ilang oras na walang hinto sa trabaho kahit sobrang init. Minsan napagod sya, dumiretso sya sa barracks at natulog kaagad, nang hindi manlang umiinom g tubig. Heat stroke ang inabot nya.

     Cause of Accident:  Prolonged exposure sa mataas na sikat ng araw
     Consequence        :  Heat Stroke



1) Common terms used in Health and Safety

•   Hazard - anything that has potential to cause harm
•   Likelihood - chance that a hazardous event may occur
•   Consequence -outcome of the hazardous event
•   Risk level - Likelihood x consequence. This is used to identify if some control measure should be done or not.
•  Risk control - taking suitable measures to eliminate and control risks
• Accident - undesired injury or property damage
• Near-miss  - Any accident avoided or accident that almost happened

2)  Three Key Reasons To Manage Safety

• Moral / humanitarian reason - We all have this moral obligation to everyone not to cause harm to others. 
• Legal - As per law, a person or company can be penalized if found guilty of negligence,  work ethics and offensive assaults to employees directly or indirectly. 
• Financials - All accidents and illnesses costs money.

3) Identifying Hazard -  Hazards are in different form. Some of the conditions / hazards listed below are those we even consider common and not harmful, but actually display risks also.

• Aggression and violence - Verbal and physical abuse, threats, assaults
• Bullying - Power tripping or anything that makes a person feel singled out for unfair treatment by a boss or a colleague. Intimidating others, insults or causing injury to other persons.
• Chemical and harmful substances - Examples are adhesives, cleaning agents, fumes from welding, dusts and bacterias,
• Electrical hazards - Anything that can cause electrical faults and shocks, such as bare wires of old appliances and octopus wiring
• Fire
• Entrance and Exit
• Heights 
• Poor Lighting
• Prolonged work with computers
• Slips and Trips
• Temperature - too much cold or too hot. As we all know our body can only adjust to a certain level of temperature. For instance, in the event of a heat stroke, the body heats up continuously, until it suddenly lose the ability to perspire. A good analogy is that in a car engine. If the car runs for long hours, it overheats until its exhaust system cannot cope up. It could be saved if the car pauses and rests after a long drive. However, if the car becomes too much hot to handle, the engine just suddenly disintegrates and stops.
• Noise
• Stress - Yes, this maybe categorized by many of us as a common and simple issue but for a health and safety practitioner, this is one of the most neglected work hazards
• And the long list goes on and on..

4) Risk Assessment Form

Anyone can make a simple risk assessment checklist. It does not have to be complicated and overtechnical. I have a sample risk assessment form below:

          

Work Activity / Hazard          People Affected      Likelihood x Consequence       Risk Level

1)  Supply of chemical to               AC technician               2        x      2                            4

     chillers / chemical hazard

2)  Changing of lights from a        Electrician                     2        x      3                            6

     20-feet ceiling / heights

3) Rooftop works / prolonged         AC technicians            3        x      3                            9

     exposure to the sun

The risk level results will be evaluated with the Risk Matrix (can be in 3x3 matrix or 5x5 matrix). Sa example sa taas, ang ginamit ay 1 - 3 scale kung saan 1 ang minimum at 3 ang maximum. Mas mataas na risk level, mas dapat gawan ng control measures. Di na kailangan pang magkaroon ng mga near-miss incidents or accidents.

Be your own health and safety practitioner.